Lyngblomsten Community Engagement

Mike introduced Tim Overweg, Director of Community Engagement, and Lynn Amon, Coordinator for programming in White Bear Lake.
Tim talked about his grandparents, how engaged they were in life and how his grandfather struggled with connections and opportunities after his wife died. Loneliness has been equated to smoking in that the deleterious effects can shave eight years off your life.
Lyngblomsten is a 112 year-old non-profit located in the Como Park neighborhood of St. Paul and also White Bear. They are dedicated to old-er adults and their families focused on health care, housing and communi-ty services.
2nd Half works with community groups, school districts, churches, librar-ies, transportation providers and more focusing on Education and the Arts; Health, Wellness and Spirituality; Resources and Support; Service Opportunities; Social and Outings; and Community Assets.
The population trend shows great growth in the number of adults over 65.
Lynn talked about the White Bear Community Forum which revealed, among other information, that 50 percent of seniors have lived in the com-munity for over 20 years and are committed to staying. With that Lyngblomsten recognized needs to fill in terms of supporting the senior and the caregiver.
This is their third year of housing a team at Redeemer Lutheran Church that includes Lynn, a caregiver/social worker, and a faith community nurse. Lyngblomsten produces a catalog of activities with no one turned away due to economic issues.
Their group respite (the Gathering) has been provided in the community for 10 years housed in nine local churches.
Taking care of seniors is a great service. Tim asked what might be the next step for Rotarians, a parent or a neighbor. Members with a question, idea, resource or support are invited to contact www.lyngblomsten.org.

The America’s Fun Science Team

His nickname is Dr. Fun. Tyronne aims to offer affordable, custom, hands-on science enrichment and STEM programs to schools, nonprofits, librar-ies, and other organizations. America’s Fun Science supports all students in STEM, but especially supports girls. He mentioned that the organization is veteran, minority, and female owned, offering hope for all kids because “We all have at least one talent.” Tyronne is the Director of Marketing and Curriculum Design. Carolyn Williams is the Director of Operations. Ty-ronne started as a science teacher and did not want students to be bound by the clipboard, dull worksheets, and boring facts. What do they do? They make science fun and inspire kids to be more awakened to science and technology. Tyronne used substitute meeting leader John Channnon for a demo of how Bernoullis Law works. Plans to take the program to Cameroon, West Africa in 2020. Go to www.americasfunscience.com for more information.

Super Bowl Security

Commander Gerlacher has been a member of the Minneapolis PD for al-most 30 years and was assigned to lead local security arrangements for the 2018 Super Bowl LII and coordinate security with state, federal and NFL officials. His preparations began three years ago by attending the two previous Super Bowl events and observing their security arrangements. The overall event was classified by the Department of Homeland Security as a Level I National Special Security Event to it’s size, duration, dignitar-ies and several other factors. While the game itself attracted 67,000 spectators and lasted 3 ½ hours, the overall event was over a ten day span, attracted over one million participants and involved several venues. Over 3,000 law enforcement and military personnel were involved includ-ing police from 31 jurisdictions, National Guard, Boarder Patrol and Homeland Security. Six Black Hawk helicopters were deployed and Air Force fighter planes were stationed nearby. An eight mile crash resistant security perimeter with an eight foot fence was established around the main venue and all persons were searched before entry and all vehicles were searched and X-rayed in a 250,000 sq. ft. heated tent.

Challenges included weather (cold and snow), Budgets (the NFL paid $0), staffing (15,000 volunteers) off site events, transportation, pedestrian safety, logistics including housing, food and medical care for out of town personnel, protests, arrests for counterfeit ticketing (154) and human traf-ficking (94) and cyber security. Lessons learned were that you must be flexible and be able to adjust to change. Thanks for the interesting presen-tation Scott.

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